20 Fall and Winter Date Ideas

As the weather outside gets a little more frightful, date ideas get a little more creative.

You may not be able to grab drinks on a patio or pack a picnic for the beach anymore (unless you live in perfect warm sunshine year round, in which case, carry on), but the fall and winter months have plenty of great date options of their own.

Here are 20 fall and winter date ideas:

1. Pick apples at a local orchard. For the ambitious, bring ‘em home and make pie together.

2. Search for the perfect pumpkin latte. Turn coffee dates into a series of taste-tests, comparing coffee shops’ fall-favorite lattes.

3. Visit local festivals and fairs. Explore the best of cool-weather craft fairs, Oktoberfest, one-of-a-kind shows, and community chili cook-offs.

4. Play in the leaves. Embrace the changing seasons. Go for a drive, ride bikes, hike, walk, or picnic in the backyard.

5. Enjoy the great indoors. When the chill drives you inside, take in a little culture at theaters, concerts, art galleries, and museums.

6. Play football. Organize a game with friends in your backyard. Or, for the less athletically inclined, throw a viewing party together.

7. Warm up by the fire. Bundle up and enjoy the last bonfire of the year with friends. Or plan a romantic night in for two, complete with s’mores made in the fireplace.

8. Indulge in seasonal ingredients and hearty, cozy meals. Stroll through a farmer’s market, take a cooking class together, or take turns cooking for each other on date night.

9. Raise a glass (or two). Host a wine and cheese party, or spend a romantic afternoon together sipping wine at a winery.

10. Visit a farm. Get lost in a corn maze. Make taffy in the snow at a sugar bush. Enjoy a good old-fashioned hayride.

11. Go to the zoo. In cooler temperatures, some animals thrive. The zoo can be a pretty magical place when the ground is covered in snow.

14. Let it snow. Playful low-budget dates can include building snowmen, going sledding, and starting a snowball fight. Sometimes it’s fun to be a kid again.

15. Volunteer. Get closer by serving together, whether that’s helping out at a soup kitchen, shoveling snow for a neighbor, raking leaves for a single mom, babysitting for your friends in need of a night out, or reading classics aloud at a nursing home.

16. Stay in. Snuggle on the couch and watch winter classics together.

17. Head out. Don’t let the winter blues keep you down. Be teammates on trivia night at a local bar, sign up for an improv class together, or just enjoy a few laughs at a comedy club.

18. Play tourist in your own city or town. Sign up for a local ghost tour, check out the Christmas lights in your neighborhood, or grab your cameras and take photographs of the changing leaves and wintery landscapes.

19. Line up for Santa. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and thermoses and check out your local Santa Claus parade together. Whoever catches the most candy buys the other one dinner.

20. Co-host a tropical party. If you’re already missing summer, bring it back. Don a lei, heat up the grill, put an umbrella in your drink and throw a party that celebrates summer’s heat in the heart of winter.